Training control for light-projectors



. C. E. AKELEY. TRAINING CONTROL FOR LIGHT PROJECTOBS.

n E m Wm MM d3 w t a P APPLICATION FILED MAR,.19, 1919. I

i c. E. AKELEY. TRAINING CONTROL FOR LIGHT PROJECTORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.19| I919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Patented Ma 25, 1920.-

WWII

C. E. AKELEY TRAINING CONTROL FOR LiGHT PROJECTORS. APPLICATION FILED MARr 19, 1919- v 1 "341,004, Patented May 25, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- UNITED smi es.

earner ossics.

CARL n. AKELEY, or new roan, N. Y.

TRAINING CONTROL FOR LIGHT-PROJECTORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented luay 25 1920.

Application filed March 19, 1919.

Serial No. 6283,1349.

i (FILED UNDERTHE ACT OF MARCH'3,;1883, 22 STAT. L, 625.)

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, CARL E. AKELEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident oi New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented an Improvement, in Training Control for Light-Projectors, ofwhich the followmg IS a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or. any of its officers or employees in prosecutionof work for the Government, or by any other person in the United Statesv without payment or; any royalty thereon. V g

The subject of thisinvention is a hand training control especially adapted for searchlights.

It is, desirable that. a'searchlight may be capable of being screened from the enemy and that the operator thereof besuitably protected. It is also necessary that the light be capable of oscillation in all directions, and that such oscillations may be. slow or rapid as conditions may require.

In locating aircraft, it is usual to pick them up by. sound and then train. the searchlight uponthem. This makes, it necessary to be able to move the light without lost motion, so that the angle of defiectionmay be accurately indicated.

To enable the operator to 'train the light; upon an aircraft and to keep it trained: thereon, it is necessarythat the operator be in a position suficiently removed from the Searchlight to prevent dazzling his eyes." He should also be in such a position as not to be compelled to look down the beam of light.

The present invention is devised to attain the foregoing objects in a simple and eiiicient manners I With the foregoing and other, objects in view, the invention resides in the combination and arrangements of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter describedand claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment ot the invention herein disclosed can hemade within the scope. of-whatis claimed without departing from thespirit of theinvention.

In theaccompanying drawingsz- Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a Searchlight. equipped with the invention,

:and illiistratin ga method of mounting the device;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the hand training control taken on the line III-J1, of Fig. 1; l

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device with the end plate removed;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line IV'IV of Fig. 3;

Fi 5 is an enlarged detail taken on the lineFf-V of Fig. 3:;

Fig. 6 is a detail plan view of thestruc ture shown in Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on the line llll vll. of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 is a detail diagrammatic view showing the action between the gears.

it the drawings by numerals of eferring to reference:-'

A usual form of searchlight is shown which is mounted on a truck, 1, to render it mobile and easily transported from place to place. A turntable, 2, is provided on the truck, 1, to permit of rotation or oscillation' of the Searchlight about a vertical axis, and said turntable includes the standards, 3-3, which form supports for the searclilight proper and in which the trunnions, one of which is shown ate, Fig. 2, of the light are journaled; this mounting being for the purpose of allowing oscillations ofthe light abouta horizontal axis I A trunnion, 4, extends. outwardly beyond its standard, 3, and is formed with a longi- 'tudinally extending recess or channel for the reception of a key, 5, (see Fig; 7) which maybe held in place by screws, as shown, or otherwise. The trunnion is housed in a tubular member, 6, secured to a flange, 7, which is attached to the. outer face of the standard by bolts,8, or the. like and serves to hold the tubular member in place.

T h'e parts forming the subject of this invention may be incased or housed in any suitable manner, but, has herein shown a tubularrasing, 9, has a sleeve, 10., connected to one end thereof, as by shrinking, welding, or otherwise, and extending therebeyond. The extending portion of the sleeve is split longitudinally as indicated at 11, Fig. 7,

and this split portion isadapted to slip over suitable means, such as the split collar, 12,

threaded on one end of the'bolt, 14.- A cy lindrical or drum like casing, 16, is connected to the outer endof the housing, 9, and serves to inclose theoperating mechanism or F gearing of the device.

trunnion are connected s A shaft, '17, herein shown as hollow or tubular, is mounted for rocking movement in and extends longitudinally of-the casing, 9, and a tubular bushing or lining, 18', is connected in the inner or light end of the shaft and is split longitudinally, as at 19, Fig. 7, to provide a key-way for the reception of the; key, 5, whereby the shaft and end of the shaft, 17, and this member is formed with an outwardly extending an 'nular flange, 21, situated between the ends of 'the, member and abutting against the.

outer end of the shaft, 17. A lockingring, 22, is secured by screws or otherwise to the casing,16, andengages the outer faceof the flange, 21, for the purpose of locking the shaft,'17, against rectilinear movement withrelation to the housing, 9.

A segmental gear, 23, is secured by keys, 24-24, or in any other suitable manner, to the extension member, 20, and is housed within the casing, 16. The segmental gear, 23, is provided with a laterally extending hub on which is loosely mounted a segmental, gear, 25, and these gears are joined by resilient'elements such as the coiled springs, 26, the hooked ends ofwhich engage in apertures formed in the respective gears.

These springs normally keep the gears, 23,'

and 25, in alinement, and tend, when one gearis moved in respect to the other, to

draw the gears back to normal or alining position- The purpose of this structure is to provide a meansof preventing lost motion or backlash, as will hereinafter appear.

A short shaft, 27, is suitably 'journaled in the casing, 16, and on the shaft is keyed or otherwise secured a pinion, 28, which is in mesh with the gears, 23, and 25. Also keyed or otherwise secured on the shaft,27, 1s a worm wheel, 29, which is formed with a laterally extending hub, 30, forming a brake drum. A brake band, 31, is trained over the drum, 30, and the ends of this band are apertured to receive a bolt, 32, thethreaded end of which'extends through an aperture formed in the casing, 16, and on r for simultaneous this extending end isthreaded a wing nut, 33, which bears against the outer wall of the casingand is threaded on or off the bolt to respectively tighten or loosen the brake band and thereby increase or decrease the friction between the band and the drum.

A bearing block, 34, is pivotally mounted 37, is ournaled in the bearing block, 34, and

is held against rectilinear movement with respect to the block by collars, 38 38, which encircle the shaft and are bound thereon by set screws or other suitable means and which engage remote faces of the bearing block; The shaft, 37, extends, at its lower end, through a slot, 39, formed in the casing, 16, and projects'at its upper end through a slot, 40, likewise formed in the. casing. A crank 41, is connected to the lower extending end of the shaft, 37, and is provided with a hand grip, 42, tope'rmit' rotation of the shaft, 37. Aworm, 43, is keyed or otherwise secured on the shaft,

37, and meshes with the-worm wheel, '29, I

so that rotation of the shaft, 37 will transmit rotary motion to the worm wheel and shaft, 27 ,and pinion, 28, therebyrotating or oscillating the segmental gears, 23, and 25,,

to transmit a rotating movement to the shaft, 17, and oscillate the light about its horizontal axis.

A collar, 44, loosely encircles the shaft, 37, at a positionwithin thecasing', 16, and toward the upper end. of theshaft, and the collar is located within an annular groove formed in'the shaft so as to prevent movement of the collarlongitudinally of the shaft. One end ofa resilient element such as the retractile spring, 45, is secured to the collar, 44, while the other end thereof is connected by a bolt, 46, or in like manner to the casing, 16. This spring tends to draw the shaft to one side and'rock it"about the pivot pin, 35, to draw the worm, 43,.out of mesh withv the worm wheel, but is normally restrained therefrom by a latch, 47,

which'is pivotallysecured to the casing, 16, adjacent the slot, 40, and which is notched as at 48, to straddle the shaft, 37, andhold the shaft against movement under the force of the spring, 45.

From the foregoing, it will beseen that by releasing the latch, 47, the shaft, 37, will 'be' free to swing under the force 7 of the spring, 45, to disengage the worm" from the worm wheel and free the shaft, 17, to move-' member, 20, and which straddles a pin, 51, which extends diametrically of the extension member and the ends of which are suitably secured in the walls thereof. lVith the gearing out of mesh the shaft, 17, may be easily rocked through means of the handle, 49, to quickly turn or oscillate the light.

A ring or collar, 52, encircles the tubular extension, 20, and is connected thereto, to rotate therewith in any suitable manner and this ring is located within the casing, 16. Countersunk screws, 53, or other securing elements serve to connect an arcuate plate, at, to the ring, 53. The plate, 54:, has a flange, 55, formed about its outer edge and this flange is graduated as indicated at 56, Fig. 6, to provide a means for reading the number of degrees of deflection of the light. To aid in a proper reading of the scale or graduations, a pointer, 57,, is secured within the casing, 16, and terminates adjacent the flange, and a sight opening, 58, is formed in the casing, 16, and is so situated as to pen mit a view of the pointer and of a portion of the scale or flange adjacent thereto.

The casing, 16, is closed at its outer face by a plate, 59, which may be secured in place by screws, 60, or in any other suitable manner.

In practice the device is utilizedin the following manner In assembling the gearing, the segmental gear, 25, is rocked with respect to the gear, 23, so as to place the springs, 26, in proper tension. The pinion, 28, is then slipped on the shaft, 27, to mesh with the teeth of the gears, 23, and 25, to prevent the gear, 25, being drawn into alinement with the gear, 23, under the force of the springs. This will cause the teeth of the gears to closely embrace the teeth of the pinion, as seen most clearly in the diagrammatic view, Fig. 8, and prevent lost motion or backlash so that the reading on the scale will be of proper accuracy.

For the purpose of screening the light and operator, the searchlight may be located in a pit. 61, which may be surrounded by an arcuate or circular ditch or trench, 62, so located that the outer end of the training control will extend thereabove; to form a support for the outer end of the training control, a

the light about its horizontal axis. Should it desired to oscillate the light with more rapidity about its horizontal axis, the latch, at, is swung, upon its pivot to release the shaft, 37, to movement under the impulse of the spring, 45, when the shaft, 16, may be manually rotated through the cross handle, &9.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a Searchlight mounted for oscillations about a vertical and a horizontal axis,'of a hand training control connected to the Searchlight and movable to oscillate the Searchlight about its vertical axis, gearing in the training control operable to oscillate the Searchlight about its horizontal axis, means for releasing the gearing from operation, and means for oscillating the light when the gearing is released.

2. A hand training control, including a shaft formed for connection with an object to'be operated thereby, gearing for rotating the shaft, said gearing including means for taking up lost motion, means for operating the gearing, means for releasing the gearing from the gear operating means to free the shaft to independent movement and means for rotating the shaft when released from the gear operating means.

3. A hand training control, including a shaft, gearing connected to the shaft and operable to rotate the shaft, means for operating the gearing, means for releasing the CARL E. AKELEY. 

